DENVER — With Colorado's legalization of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, in 2022, healthcare researchers are looking into how to use the drug as medicine.
"Attitudes toward those drugs are very different now," University of Colorado professor Dr. Jim Grigsby said. "People have recognized they’re not dangerous, in fact they can be very helpful for certain kinds of conditions."
Grigsby is a co-leader with New York University on a study that is analyzing the effects of psychedelics on cancer patients. He said it has taken years to get off the ground and receive federal funding, but after three-and-a-half years, the National Cancer Institute gave him the green light.
"Times have changed," Grigsby said. "A lot of the people who were anti-drug warriors aren’t around anymore and this is a new generation of regulators that’s taken over. Societal attitudes have changed significantly."
Grigsby wants to enroll 100 patients with stage three and four cancer for the study.
"So, there will be two therapists that will sit with them for about six to seven hours," Grigsby said. "They’re given a dose of psilocybin, or a placebo, and the placebo is an inactive substance. Our placebo is the same as vitamin B3 you can get it at the grocery store."
He said patients will be followed up with after several months.
"What we’re looking for is reduction in existential distress, to a certain extent, anxiety, depression, those kind of emotions," Grigsby said.
This is one of the first of its kind studies for CU, but it isn't the first of its kind in the field. Grigsby explained that back in the 1960s, researcher Eric Kast studied LSD on terminal cancer and found it helped mood and pain.
"In certain respects, the LSD was more effective at controlling pain than some powerful opioids," Grigsby shared.
Grigsby said there have also been similar studies of psilocybin use at UCLA and Johns Hopkins.
"The overt purpose of a lot of these drugs is therapeutic and so it’s been recognized, especially with depression and PTSD, certain drugs like MDMA, psilocybin, appear to have very beneficial effects," Grigsby said.
Colorado was the second state to legalize psilocybin after Oregon. He said it's by no mistake Colorado has been another leader in changing the conversation around certain drug use.
"So, beginning with cannabis, Colorado showed a willingness to relax the anti-drug regulations and, in fact it passed decriminalization measures despite the federal government still considering them illegal," Grisby explained. "I think cannabis paved the way, but I also think there’s a great deal of difference around cannabis and what has evolved around it and these kinds of drugs too."
Earlier this summer, Denver hosted its first "Shroom Fest" which brought mushroom vendors from across the state together to share information about psychedelics.
Grigsby said as psychedelics continue to be studied and understood, there will be more acceptance of its medicinal use. He said the University of Colorado is in the early stages of developing a research center for drugs.